Hot Tub Kicking GFI every 12 hours

[JWG185]

Not sure what has happened but we had a freeze up during winter so we shut down tub until spring. Everything thawed out and seemed OK. Put new filter in as well as new o ring by cartridge (leaked all last year), when we started it up I was getting low pressure issues and filter being displayed. I redid the whole PVC plumbing down by control box and the filter issue went away and worked pretty good. We have 2 pumps (1 hi/lo, 1 hi), I've replaced the 2 speed a couple times now (2 years ago was last time), but again all works good. Then exactly 12 hours after turning on it will blow the GFI by the house (alarm goes off). I reset it and all is fine until next 12 hours. I set it to see what is happening and it seems like when it calls for the 2 speed pump to kick in is when it blows the GFI. However I can run it manually just fine. We put a new control board in 2 years ago and has worked great. Blower kept blowing fuse as well so just disconnected it.

Any ideas ????

Thanks

 

[JVTrain]

It could be the GFI breaker itself is worn out. My breaker for the spa inside the house, not the external GFI, was tripping at fairly random intervals but then determined it was whenever the heater was attempting to warm the tub for too long and the jets were on high. My GFI was not tripping, just the breaker in the house. I replaced the 40A breaker in the house and it has never tripped since. I noticed that the breaker was warm to the touch shortly after it would trip off. I'm no expert but that could be a symptom of the breaker wearing out.

In your case, you may want to try replacing the GFI breaker to see if that remedies the issue. It's either that or your 2 speed pump is pulling more amperage than it should due to problems with its motor.

 

[OldPoolMan]

My question is that have you checked out how long your 2 speed motor runs? You mentioned that at the start of your 12 hour cycle that that is when the GFI trips But how long does it run before the GFI trips. it would be helpful to compare the length of manual versus auto run times. Also, I would make sure there no leakage issues, is seal,o-rings, gaskets, unions, loose connections. These types of water leaks can cause a delayed GFI trippage

 

[JWG185]

It could be the GFI breaker itself is worn out. My breaker for the spa inside the house, not the external GFI, was tripping at fairly random intervals but then determined it was whenever the heater was attempting to warm the tub for too long and the jets were on high. My GFI was not tripping, just the breaker in the house. I replaced the 40A breaker in the house and it has never tripped since. I noticed that the breaker was warm to the touch shortly after it would trip off. I'm no expert but that could be a symptom of the breaker wearing out.

In your case, you may want to try replacing the GFI breaker to see if that remedies the issue. It's either that or your 2 speed pump is pulling more amperage than it should due to problems with its motor.

I was thinking the same that it could be bad. The strange thing is I can be in the tub for hours with the 2 speed on hi as well as the other pump and no problem at all. It's just whenever it goes through it's cycle. Thanks!

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I haven't. I have the owners manual for the new (2+ years old) control board. I will check with them as well. I replaced all plumbing near the guts but will do a visual just to verify. Thanks!

 

[tim5055]

Have you turned on the blower? My old tub ran the blower on a timer for a minute every 12 hours. Maybe the blower is bad and tripping the GFCI.